


Lezaria Legends

by Serriya (Keolah)



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Elves, Gen, Original Universe, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1995-01-01
Updated: 1995-01-01
Packaged: 2017-11-19 08:27:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/571225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keolah/pseuds/Serriya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A general historical overview of my homebrew D&D world, Lezaria.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lezaria Legends

At the dawn of the Elven age there were a great many wizards in the world, far more than there are today. They lived on every continent, were of every race: Nymph, Elf and Human, Tepper, Dwarf and Gnome, Zephyl, Dragon and Troll, Floka, Mermaid. These wizards had completely different magic depending on the part of the world in which they lived, as well as what race they belonged to. They decided, one day, to come together and share their magic. The place they chose for the meeting was a place in the Heart of the World, called then on Torn Elkandu.

The League of Wizards chose that part of the world because all magic flowed from that place, the Land of the Star. There, they set down all the spells and invocations they knew in great books written in the Tinean tongue. Many of the wizards chose to copy the greater portions of these books into their own language, so that those who didn't know Tinean could read them. Thus were many books written in Dwarven, Mibian, Zarhian, Albrynnian, Valic, Nymphen, Astanic, and Zephylian taken to the lands of their origin. But the Tinean books were placed in Torn Elkandu for the time being. The others were placed in Bidlar-Bep, Daggervale, Rizzkeer, Sheenvale, Kebab-de-Garateck, and Crinmar.

Then an Elven wizard going by the name of Arkavellet came into power. The League of Wizards recognized that Arkavellet was not his true name, and distrusted him for that, though they could not determine who he truly was, so great was his discipline. Though they did not trust him, they had no reason to keep him from joining them, seeing his potential for power. They did not suspect anything was wrong until it was too late. As soon as the League of Wizards learned of Arkavellet's lust for power, they took the Tinean books, which was the largest of any of the sets, and hid them with the Albrynnian books in Sheenvale, and carefully sealed off the libraries around the world.

Arkavellet was enraged. He destroyed all the wizards he could find, stealing their power from their dying bodies. He then went to Rizzkeer and set to learning all he could from the Elven books, though they were not half as numerous or as powerful as the Tinean books. He really had no lust for power, but was lead by the misinterpreted belief that the League of Wizards was trying to take over the world. Thus he felt he should try to keep the world from evil and overthrow the League. As the Age of Albrynnia reached its peak, he succeeded.

That year marked the peak of the Elven Calender for centuries to come, for no greater event occurred until the sailing of the Jerekhani. Arkavellet took the name Denahbi and swept any who were openly powerful from his path, all in the name of good. Any wizard with sense either joined him or hid. The Elves saw this as a sign of peace and prosperity, though it was false and falsely come to. It was a false sign of doves that lead the Elves and many other races to follow this upstart wizard.

The Human wizards were almost completely destroyed, being too stubborn for their own good, though a great many of them joined him out of desperation. The Zephylian wizards refused to join him and were almost decimated as well, the remainder holing up in Crinmar and Ramar. The Gnomish wizards wisely chose to go into hiding, and remained in Daggervale building up their power. The Albrynnian humans fared no better than the rest. The Dwarven wizards had a few survivors, who returned to Domgad-Festig to build up their power. The Dragon wizards were not destroyed, since almost all Dragons were mages of some sort. Many of them joined Denahbi to some extent, which permanently divided the Dragon race. The good dragons scattered across Lezaria, many of them coming together to build the city that was later called Anachelgada in the Dawnspires. The Nymphs were not destroyed, being akin to the Dragons in their power. They, too, scattered, though none of them joined Denahbi. They hid in any streams and woods they could find, soon becoming divided into Water Nymphs and Wood Nymphs. Mermaids took to the water more than ever before, since before many had legs and could walk upon land. He bothered little with them. The Flokai broke away from him to the Skyshadows, though a great many of the smaller birds, being of lesser prestige, joined him. The Teppers vanished entirely at this time, no one knows whether from destruction or hiding. They have yet to emerge again. All of the Troll wizards were destroyed. No one remained who could use the Astanic books. This sparked the long-lasting enmity between the Elves and the Trolls.

The Elves, who composed more of the wizards than any other race, were at the heart of this conflict. More joined Denahbi than were destroyed, though more went into hiding than those who joined or were destroyed combined. Thus the Elven race retained more than half of its mages. Many of these went to Taverak and Kedresida, and still more went to the Endless Plains or even to Mithim. Many joined the Gnomish wizards in Daggervale. Some hid in the mountains of Garateck. It was this event more than any other that divided the Elves, though the non-mages were completely unaware of it.

As Albrynnia fell and the people moved out to Hlaya and the Sunrise Islands, Sheenvale and its collection of magic books, the largest in the world, were forgotten. Denahbi was completely ignorant of it. Thus the library in Sheenvale was safe. He knew of the Albrynnian books somewhere in Albrynnia, but he didn't know Albrynnian and didn't care about Human magic anyway. So he didn't go looking for them. The wild men who remained on Albrynnia knew little or no old Albrynnian and even less magic. Sheenvale was thus forgotten.

In the hundredth year of the second millenium was Therrin born. She was the firstborn child of two of the most powerful wizards in Taverak, and thus carried more power than either of them. Upon her birth was born a distant spark of hope for the world. Three mages came upon her birth, saying that they felt her even before she was born. These mages came from Daggervale, and had traversed the distant mountains seeking the child of hope. They said that her children would do great things in the world, which would tip the balance of power away from Denahbi. The mages also brought gifts to that lowly village on Anad Erendin, where Serrin was staying by the generosity of the villagers. They said that Therrin would not be a poor fatherless child, but a queen.

As if in response, Therrin's father returned from battle a few months later, beyond all hope of his ever surviving. Serrin had three more children--Herthen, Kameg, and Ravel--but no mages came upon their births. Therrin had a wonderful idea to build a great seaport between the Vevelanamp and the Valesantha. Thousands came to help build the city. One of them was a man called Waternorth, who fell in love with Therrin. They married and had seven children: Terace, Toref, Darren, Renneck, Cammer, Tammer, and Dorathren. The family began trading expeditions to Garateck and the lands to the north, since Noraley and Taverak were still not on good terms, and war was imminent. On one of the journeys, when Therrin was a hundred and sixty, they were passing through the mountains and the cliff gave way, sending them falling. They were caught by a group of flokai led by Thornder. Thus was born the Wind-Riders from this trust and union between the Elves and the flokai.

The city was named Tentisalu, the City of the Wind-Riders. Six score years since the s building had commenced, Cammer and Tammer went flying on their flokai across the ocean, searching for the Heart of the World, the Land of the Star of legend. Their grandparents had told them many stories about it. They flew directly south, finding nothing. Then a storm blew them off course. Thus the brothers landed upon the shore-cliffs of Kalor. They found some caves in which they took shelter from the storm. That was the brothers' greatest moment, when they found those caves.

As they explored the great caves, Tammer broke into song. The cavern caught the words he said and echoed them back loudly. Tammer was so startled that he stopped. The caves echoed the few words he had sung many times before they finally receded into whispers. Tammer began singing again, this time continuing. His brother sang along, as well as the great caves. Thus they called the name of the place Dalizar. Upon their return in 2295, Therrin decreed that the Wind-Riders would move to Dalizar on the year 2300. When they finally flew there, they learned that the brothers were not exaggerating. Thus was Dalizar always filled with song.

The Wind-Riders prospered in Dalizar, and remained isolated there for forty years. But it was in the year 2301 that Denahbi's greed reached a terrible peak. He had devised a way to gain power from the Three Lights of Lezaria, by creating in secret the Ten Rings. The Rings were the incarnations of the powers of the earth, with the solitary exception of Teeck, which was linked rather to time. Once he knew the Wind-Riders, the most powerful mages in Zarhanna, had left, he knew he was free to do this. The Rings were once living beings, but Denahbi's power sealed them, bound them to the stones of the Ten Rings. Thus first was drained the Elven telepathy, then their immortality. The Elves were none the wiser, seeing telepathy then as unreal that never existed when it now did not, then seeing immortality as never existing, but that one was a little harder to explain. Denahbi blamed it on the magic of the world, thus the blame fell to Dragons and Nymphs, deepening the wedge between the races. The mages knew the truth, though. Nevertheless, they also knew that the people would never believe the truth now that Denahbi had planted this hatred of personal power within them. Denahbi preached that only good could come from him and his talismans, but only evil from those whose personal power exceeded the norm.

As Denahbi's power grew, it slowly corrupted him to the depths of pure evil. A darkened star filled his heart, and a shadow clouded his vision. He took many names as he ruled the people of Lezaria in the earlier ages. He was Korton in Flyland during the age of Kahsadala. He was Falad during the time of Elen the Excellent. He was Arkavellet to the fallen Wizard's guild, Denahbi to the Elves, Seeroh to Humans, and the Dark Knight as the enemy of the world. That form became his favorite.

Under the green and silver light of Lezaria's moons, Halladan and Thondorron, the great wizard Denahbi worked. Halladan was merely a green sliver of gleaming light, but Thondorron glowed brightly with its light of crystalline silver. In his home deep within the Keershazor Mountains, he worked. High above the Cavern of Rizzkeer two-thirds up the mountain called Shazdelle, he stood on a balcony of stone. Here was a place that all who have seen have ever remembered. The balcony itself was circular, half sticking out of the mountain and half within it. None of it was covered by the mountain, though. At the back, beneath the mountain peak, stairs descended into the caverns below. Beginning at the point where the mountain fell away, a rail surrounded the balcony. In the center of the circle sat a rectangular glass stone, about as the size of a small pony. Here was where the wizard worked his magic tonight.

Denahbi wrought from the fabric of time itself, imprisoning it for greed. Magic swirled around the crystal, and a projection appeared on top of it. This was in the shape of a key handle, and within it was set a mirror. But the light of Thondorron penetrated into this mirror, and changed both the stone and the key from glass to crystal. Denahbi then took the Crystal Key from the stone and returned to the Cavern of Rizzkeer.

But the balcony could not survive as such any longer, for the wizard had placed a curse upon it to hide his doings from the Elves. That night was a great holiday, which was called the Halla-du-Keeri, the Festival of Lights, or Halla-de-Shazmar, the Festival for the Blue Star. That was the night that occurred once a year that the star Shazmar rose from the south, and only that night could it be seen. The star sat on the southern horizon, illuminating the blue seas below it in such a brilliant blue light as to let them shine as such forever. That is why the name of the sea, Valis, is related to the Zarhian word meaning 'to shine'. But only in a few places could it be seen, such as the southern coastal city of Valiesdore, and the peaks of some mountains in the Keershazor Mountains. Even at Valiesdore, one had to stand on a building next to the water, and be at least three stories high to see it, but for all that night the southern seas glowed blue.

Rather unfortunately, Denahbi's balcony was one such place where Shazmar could be viewed. Many gathered there that night, looking through a deep gorge in the mountain range, through which the Blue Star could be seen. Though accompanied by the twin moons, Shazmar outshone both of them. People were crowded upon the balcony, many leaning over the rail to get a view at the Star. The wizard himself was in Rizzkeer.

But then the tragedy occurred. The balcony jolted downward, and several people were thrust off from that beginning. But that was not all the mountain had in store for them. The entire mountain seemed to shake for a few fleeting moments, then the balcony itself was thrown violently from the mountainside. Many people flung themselves from it at that instant, but to no avail. As the balcony slid down into the darkness of the mountains, several other plates of rock fell into place above it, creating closed caverns behind Rizzkeer. No one on the balcony for Halla-de-Shazmar survived.

No one entered the Caverns of Rizzkeer (Bright Depths) until the days of Zendek (Fearless) son of Kempek (Thick Roots). He and his friends Marta and Tallik were sent to Rizzkeer to spy on the wizard, as it were. After crossing the Gorge of the Spirits with difficulty, they came to the Door of Cherry. They could not open it, and would not knock for fear of alerting the wizard to their presence. As Zendek leaned against a wall, part of it gave way, and he fell into a small cave next to Rizzkeer. Marta and Tallik followed him.

There was no light in the cave after the rock slid back into position. They felt their way down the tunnel until they saw torches ahead. These were no ordinary torches, though. They were the same kind of magic torches as found in the cavern at Mount Erendin (Elytin), lit by the spirits of those who had died there. They gave off no smoke, and consumed no air. These torches burned many and bright.

The tunnel was treacherous, and many side-passages it had, all filled to the brim with skeletons. As the tunnel continued through the icy mountains, more and more torches were lit, and also there were more skeletons. Not all of the side-tunnels here were blocked, but the stalagmites and stalactites prevented them from straying too far from the path.

Then they entered a large, perfectly circular room. In its center was the magic time-crystal, but they had not the key to restore it. Then they continued into the next room. Of the origin of this room, no tale knows, for Denahbi will not tell. In truth, he had created the Rings in that place, and had set the pool thus to try to capture the stars. Since Zendek and his friends were the first to see the room, they had no tales or even rumors to go on here.

In the center of the room stood a pool of water, lifted off the ground and held in a grey bowl. Starlight shone down on it from the cloudless skies above. The water seemed to distort the starlight onto itself, as if to capture it. But it never did. The powers of the earth were not so lucky, or strong, as to resist the magic of a darkened star. Next to the pool was a rusty metal pole, jutting out from the ground. At its point was a decagon, facing the pool. A rod projected from its center, this pointing directly at the bowl. Neither Zendek nor his friends had any clue as to the purpose of this pole.

In the Elven Age lived Athini the Stormy, daughter of Shazmar and Welissa of the Endless Plains. Born beside the River Samadon, Athini first saw the light of Yallia. Her fathers brilliance shone within her eyes, but she would learn wisdom only through hardship and trial.

As she entered her womanhood, her hair was dark as a stormcloud and flowing about her like a hurricane. Her eyes were of amber and pierced the night of her thirteenth birthday with their brilliance. She stood beside the River Samadon upon the Hills of Medhra where the River of the Plains flowed into the sea.


End file.
